Unchained Can Solana Edge Out Ethereum to Win the AI Agent & RWA Race?
29 snips
Feb 27, 2026 
Mike Ippolito, Blockworks co-founder and crypto commentator, and Tushar Jain, Multicoin Capital co-founder and investor, debate Solana’s competitive edge. They cover Alpenglow and application-controlled execution, Firedancer’s rollout and block-building competition, market microstructure and prop AMMs, agent adoption dynamics, and why real-world-assets remain too early to call.
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Firedancer's Value Is Systemic Not Just Stake Share
- Firedancer's success is measured by second-order effects: competition pushed Agave to improve, increased resilience via a second independent client, and enhanced credible neutrality.
- Tushar argues these benefits outweigh low current adoption metrics.
Block Building Competition Mirrors Ethereum MEV Issues
- Solana faces MEV and block-building competition similar to Ethereum, with Jito's BAM and Harmonic offering different approaches; concentration among builders remains a core challenge.
- Mike traces historical parallels and expects the market to converge on solutions.
Let Market Choose Best Block Builders
- Embrace block builder competition because wallets and sophisticated users will route to providers that deliver better execution.
- Tushar says wallets can choose validators using one builder over another to optimize UX for specific traders.